1. Geography 207 Economic Geography
Professor William B. Beyers
Teaching Assistant: Spencer Cohen
What is economic geography?
What are its roots, and to what is it related?
What are the goals for this course?
What are the class requirements?
What are the day-to-day mechanics?

2. Some key topics
Why locating businesses properly helps guarantee profitability
Why land use patterns arise in cities
Why regional economies grow or decline
How large, global corporations are reshaping the geography of production
How industrial systems are being reshaped by the information revolution
Why geography matters in economics!!

3. Economic Geography: Background
Roots of Modern Economic Geography
Von Humboldt - Cosmos
Environmental Determinism
Commercial Geography
The Quantitative Revolution & Theoretical Geography
Applied Geography, Including Business Geographics
Regional Science, Urban Planning, Business Administration including Marketing

4. Goals For This Course A Comprehensive Survey of the Field
Some Hands-on Experience using materials covered in the text & lecture
An appreciation of how the materials we will cover are treated in more advanced courses and in related fields
Recognition of both theoretical principles and their real-world application.

5. Course Requirements: Mechanics
Two Midterm Examinations
Final Examination
The Examinations are based on the Textbook and the Lectures
Three Research Exercises
Participation in Discussion Sections
Lecture notes: Available as links off course web page, but not all the graphics.

6. Grades and Points Point Distribution - Tentative
Exam 1 and Exam 2: 100 points each
Final Exam: 100 or 150 points
Research Exercises - 35 points each
Grades:
Class Median = UW Undergraduate Median =

7. About Beyers
Seattle native, live in West Seattle, UW undergrad and Ph.D. graduate
Economic Geography is my field
Research Interests:
Service Economy; New Economy; Economic Trends in U.S. regions; Trends in the Rural West; Offshoring; Cultural Industries
Other: Active in Service, University Committees, Chair in Geography
Enjoy Teaching this Class Immensely.

8. My TA – Spencer Cohen I get to choose who I want as TA for this class
Spencer is superbly qualified
He is a Ph.D. program student, coming to geography from the Jackson School of International Studies
I would like to ask him to speak about his interests and background

9. This textbook The World Economy – by Warf and Stutz
It is the 4th Edition of this book
An major remodel, published in 2005
Pearson/Prentice Hall spent $1 million on the graphics
It appears to be quite comprehensive
My ordering of our treatment of it will deviate somewhat from the chapter order

10. Chapter 1 Economic Geography: An Introduction
Geographic Perspectives
Economic Geography of the World Economy
Globalization
World Development Problems
Four Major Questions of the World Economy
Political Economies
Geographical Information Systems

11. Geographic Perspectives
Barney Warf’s Style: anything goes
The geographic perspective
Key Point: Why are activities located where they are? Space and time are interdependent
Economic Perspectives: Fig 1.2, Fig 1.3
Economic space is highly unequal
Economic Geography as a field

12. Four Major Questions of the World Economy
What should be produced, at what scale of output, and with what mix of inputs?
How should factors be combined? Labor, capital, resource factors, etc.
Where should production occur?
Who should get output? How should it be divided?

13. Economics – Key Topics Allocation of Scarce Resources
Markets for Production, Distribution, and Consumption
The Division of Labor
Solving What, How, What Price, What Quantity, and Where Production Takes Place
Types of Economic Systems
Neoclassical versus Behavioral and Structural Approaches